Valve-actuating device



June 17, 1930. T. TURNER 1,763,728

I VALVE ACTUA'IINGDEVICE Filed Aug. 1Q, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l VE N 7'05. ED WARD T TURNER ,4 TTORNEY June 17, 1930.

E. T. TURNER VALVE ACTUATING DEVICE Filed Aug. 10, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nil/Mill!!! kl- '/N VENTOR I 5'50 WARD 7'. TURNER.

A 77'0RNEY.

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Patented June .17,- 1930 anwann r; TURNER, or narrow, omo p "vu va-screams mtvrcn Application filed August 10, 1925. Serial No. 49,861.

' inventionv relates to valve actuatingdevices and is designedmore' particularly for use in connection with water softening ne object of the invention is to'provide means-whereby a valve may be quickly shiftprovide such a ed from one position to another havln continuous movement.

A n'ther ob'ect of the invention is to "device which will positively retain the valvejin'fone position until the time arrives for shifting the same and will then move the valve quickly to its other by a part position; p A further object of the invention isto provide such a device which will be simple in its construction, positive in itsoperatlon and of a stron durable character.

V A further ob ect of the invention is to' pro 20 vide in a ,water softening device means for automatically connecting the service pipe with the supply of hard water during the re-' conditioning operation; and for controlling.

this connection by means of the actuating devices for the valves which control the are conditioning operation.

Other ob ects ofthe invention will appear as the device is described in detail.

In the 'acco panfying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation o a water softening apparatus showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of 'a valve and its 0 dating device; Fig. 3 is a side elevation 0 an actuating device for'one of the valves shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the actuating devices for the second valve shown in Fig. ..2; Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 ofiFig. 2;

and Fig. 6 1s a sectlon taken onthe 11116- closed, thus interrupfin the pp y of 6-6 of Fig. 3.

The'present application is in the nature of a division of the application for. patent filed by me February. 25, 1925, Serial No.

11,435, and Ihave here shown the invention as applied to a water softening apparatusof the type shown in that application. It

will be understood, however, that the valve actuating mechanism is not limited to use with water softening apparatus and that it maybe used in connection with apparatuses of various kinds, 7 y

The water softening apparatus here illustrated comprises a tank or container 1 adapted to contain a quantity of water soft ening material, such as zeolite, glauconite or the like, and it is connected at its bottom-with a water supply pipe 2 and is con-' nected near its upper end with an outlet pipe 3 which is connected bothwith a s erv 1cepipe 4 and with a drain pipe 5. ,The connection between the service ipe 4and' the outlet pi e 3 is rovid d wltha check". a

valve 6 whic will tion is conveye rom a tank 7 through a pipe 8 to the hard water su ply pipe 2 into. which it is introduced throiigh an injector 9'; as described in the above mentioned application. The salt solution pi trolledby a valve 9 andthe is controlled by a valve 10. In the normal water softening operation the valves 9 and 10 are both closed and the 'water passes through the supply pipe 2 into the container, throu h the waterpsoftening material and out t rough the pipe 3 quantity of water has been softened the valves 9 a'ndlO are both opened, thus caushas been delivered to the container for a redetermined period of time the valve 9 regenerating solution, but t e valve 5 is re-' tamed in its open position'for a further period of time sufficientto enable the hard water to'wash out and remove allsalt from the container. At the end of said period the drainvalve is closed and the water softening operation is resumed. 'The operation oivthe valves 9 and 10 is automatically effected and in the ap aratus here shown a water motor 11, whic also serves as a mee sea ed by the back pressure of the water in the service line when thedrainfipe is open. The salt solu- 8 is con-. ain'pipe' 5 .to the service line 4. 'When a predetermined Y shown forms no part of the present invention, so that it need not be'described in detail but it will be sufiicient to state that it comprises a rotary shaft 12 which projects above the same and is journaled at its up-. per end in a bearing formed in the u per member of a frame 13 which ismounte on the motor. This shaft has secured thereto a worm 14 which meshes with a worm wheel the cut-away portion of t 15 rigidl journale frame 13 and this shaft 16 serves as the operating shaft :for the valve actuating devices.

The valves 9 and 10 may be of any suitable character and the controlling mechanism may take various forms, that here shown having been chosen for the purposes of illustration. Preferably the timing of the valves is effected by means of cams operated by a shaft 16. In the present apparatus the valve 9 for the regenerating solution pipe '8 comprises a reciprocatory valve stem 18 which is connected with one end of a lever 19 which is pivotally mounted on a supporting link 20 carried by a fixed support which, in the present instance, is mounted on the valve casing, as shown at 21. The other end of the lever 19 is connected with an actuatin secured to a shaft 16 which is a cam 24 rigidly secured to the sha 16 and is held in engagement with that cam by means of a spring 25 extending between the lever 19 and the supporting member 21 for the link 20. This arrangement is such that' when the roller is in engagement with the concentric ortion of the cam 24 the valve will be hel in its closed position but when e cam is brought into line with the roller the spring 31 will open the valve and retain the same open until the roller again engages the concentric periphery of the cam and it will thus be apparent that the valve will be opened once upon each complete rotation of the cam shaft 16 and will be held open for a period of time which is determined by the shape of the cam. The speed of the shaft 16 is so controlled as to permit the desired quantity of water to be delivered to the container only between the successive openings of the valve.

It is desirable that the valve 10 which controls the drain pipe 5 should be quickly opened and closed and the actuating mechanism here shown is of such character as to positively and quickly open and close the in bearings 17 carried by the.

valve. This valve also comprises a reciprocatory valve stem 26, one end of whlchis connected with a lever 27 pivotally mounted I on the upper end of a link 28, the lower end of which is mounted on a fixed support, in the present instance apart 29 carried by the valve casing. The opposite end of the lever 27 is pivotally connected with the upper end of an actuating rod 30, the lower end of which is slidably mounted in an axial recess 31 formed in the upper portion of a plunger 32 which is guided in a suitable bearing in shaft 16. These cams are here shown as snail cams and are so arranged with relation one to the other that the valve will be held in its closed and opened positions for the desired periods of time and'it will be noted that the arrangement of the cams with relation to the plunger is such that the cam 35 will move the plunger upwardly and the cam 36 will move the same downwardly. The connection between the plunger 32 and the actuating rod 30 is such that these parts may have relative movement, and operative movement will not be imparted to the rod 36 and to the valve until'just before the cam, 35 or 36, clears its roller on the plunger. In the present. arrangement, the actuating rod 32 has secured thereto and projecting g from the opposite sides thereof tapered pro- 'rod 22 which is guided in a part of the frame 13 and the lower end of which carries a roller 23 which rides over the peri hery of jections 37 which, if desired, may'consist of the opposite edges of a diamond shaped plate rigidly secured to the rod and projectng beyond the respective sides thereof. The angles or apices of the two projections or angular plates 37 are arranged in transverse alinement. Cooperating with these tapered projections or angular plates 37 are bell crank levers 38 each having its downwardly extending arm pivotally mounted on a collar 39 rigidlysecured to the upper end of the lunger 32. The other arms of the bell cran levers are connected one to the other by means of springs 40 which tend to move are acting on the lower inclines of the tapered plates 37 and thus serve to hold the actuating rod 30 in its uppermost position with the valve closed. In these drawings,

however, the cam 35 has moved the plunger 32 almost to its uppermost position and a slight further movement of the cam will force the studs or rojections 41 across the apices or widest points of the plates 3? and thus cause the rollers or studs to act upon the upper inclined edges 'of the plates 37, which will result in the plates and the rod being moved quickly downward and the valve opened. When the cam 35 clears the roller 33 on the plunger the latter will be retained in its uppermost position by the contact of the rollers or studs 41 with the upper inclined edges of the plates 37 As the shaft continues to rotate the cam 36 will force the plunger downwardly and just before theiplunger reaches the lower limit of its movement by the cam 36 the rollers 41 on the levers 38 will again pass the wide points or apices of the plates 37 and will act upon the lower inclined surfaces of these plates to impart upward movement to the actuating rod and thus close the valve. The cams on the shaft 16 are so arranged withrelation one to the other that the valve 10 of the drain pipe will be opened either simultaneously with or slightly before the valve 9 of the regenerating solution pipe, thus preventing any of the regenerating solution from entering the water softening unit while it is connected with the service pipe. It will be ap "arent that when thevalves 9 and 10 have een opened the regenerating solution or salt 'water will becarried into the container 1 by the water delivered thereto through the supply pipe 2 and the flow of regenerating solution to the 0011131111182 w1ll continue until the cam 24 has again closed the valve 9. The closing of the valve 9,will

take lace in a less period of time than will the c osing of the valve 10, due to the arrangement of the cams, and consequently the water from the supply pipe will continue to flow through the contamer to the dram pipe after the supply of regenerating solu-' tion has been interrupted, thereby causing the container to be rinsed or washed out by this additional water. When sufiiclent water has passed through the container to thoroughly rinse the same the valve 10 is again closed and the water from the supply pipe will pass through the contalner to the service pipe.

Inasmuch as the'supply oflsoft water is interrupted during the reconditioning op-- eration it may be desirable that hard water should be available in the service line and I have here shown means whereby this may be automatically accomplished. The hard water supply plpe 2 is connected w1th the service pipe 4 by means of a by-pass51 which is controlled by a valve 42. The'valve 42 is preferably so connected with the valve actuating mechanism that it Wlll be opened during the reconditioning process and closed 43 pivotally mounted at one end on a bracket 44 secured to the valve casing, connected between its ends with the. valve stem 45, and connected at'its other end by a link 46 with one arm of a bell crank lever 47, pivotally mounted on a bracket 48 and having its other end pivotally connected with a rod 49 which 1s connected with the upper end of the valve actuating rod 30 forming part of the actuating mechanism for the valve 10 of the drain pipe. The arrangement is such that when the valve 10 of the drain pipe is opened the valve 42 of the by-pass 51 will also be opened, thus permitting water *to flow directly from the supply pipe to the service line, but when the valve 10 is closed the valve 42 will also be closed, thus forcing the water to pass through the water softening unit to the service line. Preferably the by-pass is provided with a restricted orifice, as shown at 50, which will cause a reduction in the pressure of the service line, thus notifying the user that he is receiving hard water instead of soft water. The reduced orifice serves to insure the passage through the injector 9 of a quantity of water su'fiicient to container. i.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described m tion, what I claim as new and secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, two pipes, a valve to control the flow of liquid through one of said pipes, a longitudinally reciprocatory actuating member operatively connected with said valve, and means for imparting operative movement to said actuating member at intervals inveneslre to determined by the quantity of water passing through-the other of said pipes.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, two pipes, a valve to control the flow'of liquid through one of said pipes, a longitudinally reciprocatory actuating member operatively connected with said valve, a second member mounted for movement relatively to said reciprocatory member, means mounted on said second member for imparting movement to said reciprocatory member when said second member has been moved to a predetermined position with relation thereto, and means controlled by the water which passes through the other of said pipes to actuate said second member.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, two pipes, a valve to control the flow of liquid through one of said pipes,

movement to said spring pressed member to causeit to successively contact with the in-' clined surfaces of said part.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, two pi' es, a valve to control the flow of liquid t rough one of said pipes, a reciprocatory actuating member 0 eratively connected with said valve, cam p ates projecting beyond the respective sides of said reci rocatory member and each having oppositely inclined edges extending lengthwise of said member, contact members arranged to ride over the inclined edges of said cam plates, springs to press said contact members against the ed es of said plates, and means controlled by t e water passing through the other of said pipes to impart bodily movement to said contact members, whereby each of them will be moved out of contact with one inclined surface of the adjacent cam plate and into contact with the other contact surface of said cam plates.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, two pi es, a valve to control the flow of liquid t rough one of said pipes, a reciprocatory actuating member operatively connected with said valve, cam plates projectmg from the respective sides of said member and each having op ositely inclined edges extending lengthwise thereof, a plunger mounted for movement relatively to and lengthwise of said reciprocatory member, parts mounted on said plunger and arranged to ride over the edges of the respective cam plates, springs to press said parts against the edges of the respective plates, a motor actuated by the water which passes through the other of said pipes, and an operative connectlon between said motor and said plunger.

6 In an apparatus of the character described. two pipes, a valve to control the flow of liquid through one of said pipes, a reclprocatory actuating member operatively connected with said valve, cam plates proecting from the respective sides of. said member and each having oppositely inclined edges extending lengthwise thereof, a plunger mounted for movement relatively to and lengthwise of said reciprocatory member, parts mounted on said plunger and arranged to r1de over the edges of the respective cam plates,'spr1ngs to press said parts against the edges of the respective plates, a motor actuated by the water which passes through the other of said pi es, and cams connected with said motor an acting on said plunger to positively move the same in opposite directions.

7. An actuating device of the character described, comprising aplunger having a described, comprising a plunger having a longitudinal bore in one'end thereof, means for imparting reciprocatory movement. to said plunger, an actuating rod adapted to be connected with the part to be actuated and having one end extending into the bore in said plunger, triangular plates projecting from the opposite sides of said rod and having their apices arranged in the same transverse line, levers pivotally mounted onv said plunger, parts carried by said levers to engage the inclined edges of the respective plates, and a spring acting on said levers to move said,parts one toward the other.

9. An actuating device of the character described, comprising a plunger having a longitudinal bore in one end t ereof, means for imparting reciprocatory movement to said plunger, an actuating rod adapted to be connected with the part to be actuated and having one end extending into the bore in said plunger, triangular plates projecting from the opposite sides of said rod and having their apices arranged in the same transverse line, bell crank levers having downwardly extending arms pivotally mounted on said plunger and having other arms extending outwardly from the upper ends of the first mentioned arms, a spring to connect the last mentioned arms one to another, and parts carried by said levers at the angles thereof to engage the edges of the respective plates.

10. An actuating device of the character described comprising two longitudinally movable elongated members, means for operatively connecting one of said members with a device to be operated, the second member being movable with relation to the first mentioned member, a part carried by said first mentioned member and having outwardly converging surfaces, a spring pressed device carried by said second member to engage said inclined surfaces and im art movement to said first mentioned mem said spring presseddevice passes the apex r and when of said part, and means to actuate said sec- 0nd member.

11. An actuating device of the character described comprising a movable rod, means to operati'vely connect said rod with a part to be actuated, said rod having plates projecting from the opposite sides thereof, the edges \of each of said plates converging outwardly,

eratively connecting one of said members with a device to be operated, the second of said members-being movable with relation to said first mentioned member, triangular plates projecting from the opposite sides of said .first mentioned member, bell crank levers having downwardly extending arms pivotall connected near their lower ends with said secondmember andhaving other 6 arms extending outwardly from the upper ends of the first mentionedarms, a spring to connect the last mentioned arms one to the other, amLfiarts carried by said levers at the angles t ereof to engage the edges of the respective plates.

13'. In an actuatlng device for a valve having a stem, an actuating member, means adapted to operatively connect said actuating member with said valve stem, a second member mounted for reciprocatory move- -ment with relation to said actuating member,

a yieldable device connected with said second member and arranged to act on said actuatin member to cause operative movement toie'imparted-to said actuating memher when said second member has been moved to a predetermined position with renecting one of said members with a device to be operated, the second member bein movable with relation to the first mentioned member, a device carried by one of said members and comprising two movable parts, and yieldable means for moving said parts one toward the other, a device carried by the other of'said members and so arranged with relation to said parts that during the movement of said second member with relation to said first mentioned member it will move said parts one from the other and :after the second member has been moved to a predetermined position with relation to said first mentioned member said parts will act on the last mentioned device to impart movement to said first mentioned member and means for imparting movement to said second member.

In testimony whereof, I aifix my signature hereto.

EDWARD T. TURNER.

lation to said actuating member, and means for imparting movement .to said second member. v

14:. An actuating device of the character described comprising two longitudinally movable members, means for operatively connecting one of said members with a device to be operated, the second member being movable with relation to the first mentioned member, a ieldable device carried by one of said mem ers and arranged to act on the other of said members to cause operative movement to be imparted to the first mentioned member when said second member is moved to a predetermined position with relation to said first mentioned member, and means for imparting movement'to said second member.

15. An actuating device of the character described comprising two longitudinally o5 movable members, means for operatively con- 

